What's the connection between STEPHEN THE GREAT and La Femme NECHITA? It's VASLUI, ROMANIA. "Stephen III of Moldavia (...) was Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504." "He was victorious in 46 of his 48 battles, and was one of the first to gain a decisive victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Vaslui, after which Pope Sixtus IV deemed him verus christianae fidei athleta (true Champion of Christian Faith)." ALEXANDRA NECHITA (born in 1985, in VASLUI City) is a Romanian-American painter, muralist, sculptor, activist, philanthropist, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_the_Great

"Stephen III of Moldavia (also known as Stephen the Great, Romanian: Ștefan cel Mare,pronounced [ʃteˈfan t͡ʃel ˈmare] or Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt, "Stephen the Great and Holy"; 1433, Borzești – July 2, 1504) was Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504 and the most prominent representative of the House of Mușat.

During his reign, he strengthened Moldavia and maintained its independence against the ambitions of Hungary, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire, which all sought to subdue the land. Stephen achieved fame in Europe for his long resistance against the Ottomans. He was victorious in 46 of his 48 battles, and was one of the first to gain a decisive victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Vaslui, after which Pope Sixtus IV deemed him verus christianae fidei athleta (true Champion of Christian Faith). He was a man of religion and displayed his piety when he paid the debt of Mount Athos to the Porte, ensuring the continuity of Athos as an autonomous monastical community."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_the_Great

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Alexandra Nechita [DORIN'S NOTE: in Romanian, Nechita is pronounced NEKITA]
Alexandra Nechita at Houston Galleria shopping complex in 2010. Photo by Ron Scubadiver
Born	August 27, 1985 (age 26) Vaslui, Romania
Nationality	Romanian, American
Movement	Cubism
Influenced by	Pablo Picasso

"She was born in Vaslui, three months after her father, Niki Nechita, escaped from Communist Romania. She and her mother, Viorica Nechita, had to wait for two years before being allowed to join him in the United States. The family settled in California, where her father found work as a lab technician, and her mother as an office manager.

At the age of two, she was working with pen and ink and by five was working with watercolors. Upon her seventh birthday, oil and acrylics were her tools. She had her first solo exhibition at the age of eight at the public library in Whittier, Los Angeles County. At this time she was attending a small private school in Whitter CA- Faith Lutheran School. When Nechita graduated, she gave her teachers a special painting that she had painted.

She has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has appeared with numerous celebrities, including Bill Clinton. In addition to talk show appearances, Alexandra was featured in the television show Boy Meets World, in the 1998 episode "Better Than The Average Cory", starring as herself. Her talent led to her being known as the "Petite Picasso"; as her work, to some, resembles that of the master. She was known as a child prodigy until late in her teens."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Nechita

This is juat a demo/idea of a stamp. I could finalize it anytime, and Zazzle will approve it, because there's no copyright issue whatsoever. Simply the name Alexandra, a common name for many people. But my point is that I could pay homage and promote even further Alexandra Nechita, for example, with zazzle items (not just stamps) about her artwork, actions and goals in life, should she wish so. She's already famous in the art world, of course, but stamp collecting, still the #1 hobby in the world,  would be another nice area in which she could be known and appreciated.

Images of some of her paintings:
http://www.piersidegallery.com/artists/nechita/


Links in Romanian, but you can still get the gist, see some photos...:)

http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/micuta-picasso-alexandra-nechita-s-a-facut-mare-946703.html

http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/micuta-picasso-mai-dorita-ca-maestrul-spaniol-935139.html

http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/micuta-picasso-uneori-sumele-care-mi-se-ofera-sunt-absurde-871853.html

Bravo, Alexandra, and parents, too! :)

I envy, in a positive way, that you earned your "freedom to make decisions", to work exclusively for your true vocation in life! :)

I may or may not fully understand and appreciate your artwork (yet), but I really love your life story.

I also appreciate your honesty and lack of arrogance, when you enrolled in the College of Arts.

You were already rich and famous, but you wanted that experience anyway, despite the envy and ridicule of some classmates.

You are realist, and you have accepted that your artwork is dismissed or "demolished" by some, but then you don't expect to please quite everyone in the world.

What I hope you will continue to do is to help others work towards their dream, art-related or not, thru the power of your global influence.

You will remember forever, won't you, the lady who borrowed $5,000 to buy your artwork mainly to support your incipient career, when you were very young.

And the gentleman who enabled you with your first million-dollar contract ($1.4M).

You, too, should be the helper/Mecenas of  young talented people. :)

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The postcard in this blogpost is the one at the top, used to create the Stephen The Great maximum card.

Also, Alexandra Nechita could create postcards ("confetti of friendship") to promote her artwork and ideas, including as an UN Ambassador in art.

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ (wait until Beth posts the today's Linky tool for the meme, then make your entry, if you want to join).